Part 367 (2/2)
RAKOCZY MARCH, the national anthem of the Hungarians, composed about the end of the 17th century by an unknown composer, and said to have been the favourite march of Francis Rakoczy II. of Transylvania.
RAKSHASAS, in the Hindu mythology a species of evil spirits, akin to ogres.
RALEIGH, SIR WALTER, courtier, soldier, and man of letters, born near Budleigh, in E. Devon, of ancient family; entered as student at Oxford, but at 17 joined a small volunteer force in aid of the Protestants in France; in 1580 distinguished himself in suppressing a rebellion in Ireland; was in 1582 introduced at court, fascinated the heart of the Queen by his handsome presence and his gallant bearing, and received no end of favours at her hand; joined his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in an expedition to North America, founded a colony, which he called Virginia in honour of the queen, and brought home with him the potato and the tobacco plants, till then unknown in this country; rendered distinguished services in the destruction of the Armada; visited and explored Guiana, and brought back tidings of its wealth in gold and precious things; fell into disfavour with the queen, but regained her esteem; under King James he became suspected of disloyalty, and was committed to the Tower, where he remained 12 years, and wrote his ”History of the World”; on his release, but without a pardon, he set out to the Orinoco in quest of gold-mines there, but returned heart-broken and to be sentenced to die; he met his fate with calm courage, and was beheaded in the Old Palace Yard; of the executioner's axe he smilingly remarked, ”A sharp medicine, but an infallible cure” (1552-1618).
RALSTON, WILLIAM SHEDDEN, a noted Russian scholar and translator, born in London; studied at Cambridge, and in 1862 was called to the bar, but never practised; a.s.sistant in the British Museum library till 1875; visited Russia; his works embrace ”Songs of the Russian People,” ”Russian Folk-Tales,” &c. (1828-1889).
RaMA, in the Hindu mythology an avatar of Vishnu, being the seventh, in the character of a hero, a destroyer of monsters and a bringer of joy, as the name signifies, the narrative of whose exploits are given in the ”RaMaYANA” (q. v.).
RAMADAN, the ninth month of the Mohammedan year, a kind of Lent, held sacred as a month of fasting by all Moslems, being the month in the life of Mahomet when, as he spent it alone in meditation and prayer, his eyes were opened to see, through the shows of things, into the one eternal Reality, the greatness and absolute sovereignty of Allah.
RaMaYANA, one of the two great epic poems, and the best, of the Hindus, celebrating the life and exploits of Rama, ”a work of art in which an elevated religious and moral spirit is allied with much poetic fiction, ... written in accents of an ardent charity, of a compa.s.sion, a tenderness, and a humility at once sweet and plaintive, which ever and anon suggest Christian influences.”
RAMBLER, a periodical containing essays by Johnson in the _Spectator_ vein, issued in 1750-52, but written in that ”stiff and c.u.mbrous style which,” as Professor Saintsbury remarks, ”has been rather unjustly identified with Johnson's manner of writing generally.”
RAMBOUILLET, MARQUISE DE, a lady of wealth and a lover of literature and art, born in Rome, who settled in Paris, and conceiving the idea of forming a society of her own, gathered together into her salon a select circle of intellectual people, which, degenerating into pedantry, became an object of general ridicule, and was dissolved at her death (1588-1665).
RAMEAU, JEAN PHILIPPE, French composer, born at Dijon; wrote on harmony, and, settling in Paris, composed operas, his first ”Hippolyte et Aricie,” and his best ”Castor et Pollux” (1683-1764).
RAMESES, the name of several ancient kings of Egypt, of which the most famous are R. II., who erected a number of monuments in token of his greatness, and at whose court Moses was brought up; and R. III., the first king of the twentieth dynasty, under whose successors the power of Egypt fell into decay.
RAMILLIES, Belgian village in Brabant, 14 m. N. of Namur; scene of Marlborough's victory over the French under Villeroy in 1706.
RAMMOHUN ROY, a Brahman, founder of the Brahmo-Somaj, born at Burdwan, Lower Bengal; by study of the theology of the West was led to embrace deism, and tried to persuade his countrymen to accept the same faith, by proofs which he advanced to show that it was the doctrine of their own sacred books, in particular the Upanishads; with this view he translated and published a number of texts from them in vindication of his contention, as well as expounded his own conviction in original treatises; in doing so he naturally became an object of attack, and was put on his defence, which he conducted in a succession of writings that remain models of controversial literature; died in Bristol (1772-1833).
RAMSAY, ALLAN, Scottish poet, born in Crawford, Lanarks.h.i.+re; bred a wig-maker; took to bookselling, and published his own poems, ”The Gentle Shepherd,” a pastoral, among the number, a piece which describes and depicts manners very charmingly (1686-1758).
RAMSAY, ALLAN, portrait-painter, son of preceding; studied three years in Italy, settled in London, and was named first painter to George III. (1715-1764).
RAMSAY, EDWARD BANNERMAN, dean of Edinburgh, born at Aberdeen, graduated at Cambridge; held several curacies; became inc.u.mbent of St.
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